$RIVN

What happened at Rivian’s first Autonomy and AI Day held in Palo Alto on December 11, 2025?

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe and his team presented a highly ambitious autonomy and artificial intelligence–focused roadmap. The biggest announcement was their own custom AI chips, RAP1, which will completely eliminate Nvidia and Qualcomm chips. This chip provides 4 times higher performance and will be integrated into new models like the R2 starting in 2026. The goal is to significantly reduce costs and accelerate Rivian in AI-based vehicles.
The new subscription system called Autonomy+ also drew attention. At the beginning of 2026, a continuously expanding hands-free driving package will be offered for second-generation vehicles. The fee is $2,500 upfront or $49.99 monthly; more competitive compared to Tesla’s $99 FSD. Universal hands-free driving support is coming for a total of 3.5 million miles of routes in North America.
On the hardware side, lidar, radar, and the autonomy computer are being completely updated. Rivian’s target is clear: SAE Level 4 autonomy that does not require human intervention under certain conditions. The robotaxi goal was also clearly emphasized, not full FSD but a high level of automation.
On the software side, a fully integrated assistant is coming with AI models developed in-house. In 2026, the AI voice assistant will also be activated. With Rivian’s data loop approach, data collected from vehicles will continually improve the artificial intelligence over time. R2 is expected to arrive with these capabilities, and software revenues are projected to increase with the Volkswagen partnership.

So why did the stock fall?

The announcements were actually strong, but analysts found them expected. As Morgan Stanley and RBC highlighted, Rivian’s biggest problem is still lack of data, a weak balance sheet, and profitability issues. We are talking about a company that reported a loss of about $10,000 per vehicle in Q3. They forecast $2–2.25 billion in EBITDA losses for 2025. While EV demand is generally slowing, the removal of tax incentives, concerns about charging infrastructure, and R2 launch risk also add pressure. Morgan Stanley had already downgraded the stock to underweight and given a $14 price target.
On the other hand, Rivian announcing its own chip also created 1–2 percent pressure on Nvidia. During the event, OpenAI announced its new model, which distracted the AI agenda and overshadowed Rivian’s news flow.
In short: The announcements are innovative and have the potential to create long-term value. But Wall Street, as always, wants to see short-term profitability, scale, and concrete progress. Since Rivian has not yet provided this confidence, the stock faced pressure instead of moving higher.

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